[jhutcheson]

I am doing a story on the 66 Chevy II SS and I was wondering if someone could help explain the difference between a Chevy II Nova SS and a Chevy II SS. Are they the same? Did the Nova models say Nova on the body somewhere? Also, could you get a regular Chevy II with the 327? How many Chevy II SS models were made in '66? And how many had the 327? I keep finding conflicting info from different sites and books. Thanks to anyone who can help me out.

--James Hutcheson

 

[undercvrSS]

I am doing a story on the 66 Chevy II SS and I was wondering if someone could help explain the difference between a Chevy II Nova SS and a Chevy II SS. Are they the same? Did the Nova models say Nova on the body somewhere? Also, could you get a regular Chevy II with the 327? How many Chevy II SS models were made in '66? And how many had the 327? I keep finding conflicting info from different sites and books. Thanks to anyone who can help me out.

--James Hutcheson

66 SS's did'nt say Nova on them anywhere. Nova was a model, just like Bel Air. Chevy II, Nova, then Chevy II SS. For 67 they were Nova SS. If it was'nt a SS it would say Nova on the quarter panel and the Dash.

Any model could've gotten a 327. SS's could've had a six cylinder or a 283.

SS was only available on the 2-door hardtop.

They made about 16,000 V8 SS's for 66. Not sure how many were 283's or 327's.

Need any more info?

 

[franksL79]

1966

You could get a 66 SS with a six cylinder, the engine options went like this, 4 cylinder 153, 6 cylinder,194,and 230, 283, 2 and 4 barrel, and 327, 275hp and 350 hp.In Canada though the only engines offered were the 194, 283 2 barrel, and 327/350 hp. Frank

 

[jhutcheson]

So is it correct to call it a 66 Chevy II Nova SS or just Chevy II SS? Also, I know that the SS came with bucket seats, wider rocker panels, and an aluminum rear deckcove. Were there any other features?

Thanks!

 

[CdnL79 Registry]

So is it correct to call it a 66 Chevy II Nova SS or just Chevy II SS? Also, I know that the SS came with bucket seats, wider rocker panels, and an aluminum rear deckcove. Were there any other features?
Thanks!

To be 100% correct, it's a Chevy II Nova SS, but Chevy II SS is acceptable, too. A little brain freeze took hold at GM when badging the Chevy II SS in 1966. They forgot to put the name 'Nova' on the car, even though all 1966 Chevy II promotional material refers to the SS as a Nova. Nova was a model of Chevy II, just like Malibu was a model of Chevelle. Since the inception of the SS in the Chevy II lineup in 1963, all SS cars were badged as Nova models....except 1966. The Chevy II name was dropped after 1968 and all cars in the line were called Novas beginning in 1969.

Bob

 

[John65ss]

. A little brain freeze took hold at GM when badging the Chevy II SS in 1966. They forgot to put the name 'Nova' on the car, even though all 1966 Chevy II promotional material refers to the SS as a Nova.

Weird. I never thought of it, but you are right. Seems like this is the ONLY 63-67 Nova SS that did not say 'Nova' anywhere.

 

[Duane]

I've comprehended it as this,

100 series are Chevy II's
400 series are Nova's
SS series are SS's

basically they were optioned base.

 

[CdnL79 Registry]

The series designations by model number right out of GM's 1966 Chevy II Facts & Features Manual:

11737-11837 Nova Super Sport 2 Door Hardtop

11537-11637 Nova 2 Door Hardtop Sport Coupe
11569-11669 Nova 4 Door Sedan
11535-11635 Nova Wagon

11169-111369-111469 Chevy II 100 4 Door Sedan
11111-111311-111411 Chevy II 100 2 Door Sedan
11335-11435 Chevy II 100 Wagon

Nova Super Sport, Nova, and Chevy II 100 are models of the 1966 Chevy II. There are no models referred to as Nova 400, just Nova SS and Nova. The model numbers indicate six or V/8 and in the case of the Chevy II 100 series 2 and 4 door sedans, the 4 cylinder engine as well.

Bob

 

[Dave B.]

I am doing a story on the 66 Chevy II SS and I was wondering if someone could help explain the difference between a Chevy II Nova SS and a Chevy II SS. Are they the same? Did the Nova models say Nova on the body somewhere? Also, could you get a regular Chevy II with the 327? How many Chevy II SS models were made in '66? And how many had the 327? I keep finding conflicting info from different sites and books. Thanks to anyone who can help me out.

--James Hutcheson

Hi James

Well, we're glad to help if we can. Your 'SS' question has already been answered, so I'll tackle the '327' part. First, here's a link to the 'RPO' page on Scott Windle's "Nova Resource" site.
http://novaresource.org/rpo1.htm
Scott is widely acknowledged as an expert on Novas and has spent years researching models, options and Nova facts in general. When I'm digging for some little-known Nova fact, I usually try his site first.

The breakdown isn't as simple as we'd like for it to be... First, there were two 327 cubic inch engines offered in 1966: the 'L30' with 275 HP and the 'L79' with 350 HP. Scott's numbers indicate that there were 5,108 Novas and Chevy IIs built with the L30 engine and 5,481 built with the L79. That's 10,589 total.
Switching to Scott's page with production figures
http://novaresource.org/production.htm
We can get pretty close on the L79 cars, calculating that there were:
3,547 Nova SS 2-door coupes
1,734 Nova (400) 2-door coupes and
about 200 Chevy II (100) 2-door post cars
There were also probably a few 4-door cars and at least 2 or 3 wagons with the L79 package that left the factory 'through the back door'.

The mix of cars that had the L30 package is much harder to decipher, since the L30 was available throughout the line.

If it makes you any more comfortable, quite a few of us have been around these cars since the beginning. I took my driver's test in 1966 in my dad's 1966 L30 Nova SS 4-speed and have owned my current L79 SS since 1972.